STOCKTON — Stockton Metropolitan Airport set a November record for passenger boardings and is on its way to its biggest year since Allegiant began flying between Stockton and Las Vegas in 2006, officials said this week.

“It’s been a very good year,” said Susan Palmeri, director of the San Joaquin County-owned hub.

She estimates the number of passengers boarding planes this year could approach 50,000 by year’s end, while the total for 2009 was nearly 27,500. The previous annual record was more than 29,300 set in 2009.

“We’ll about double our emplanements from last year,” Palmeri said.

The airport recorded 2,978 Las Vegas-bound travelers through the boarding gates in November, well above the previous high for the month, 2,324 set in 2007. That was augmented by another 1,531 taking flights to Long Beach, a service that Allegiant previously announced will end with the final flight Sunday.

While more than 10,000 travelers flew to Long Beach from July through November, demand for the service fell short of the mark for Allegiant.

The Las Vegas-based discount airline typically fills 90 percent or more of available seats. The Stockton-to-Long Beach route peaked at 85 percent in October and slipped to an 81 percent load factor in November.

“It’s not surprising that Long Beach dropped off after they announced cancellation of the service,” Palmeri noted.

Still, the airport continues to seek other opportunities to expand scheduled passenger service and remains in the midst of a $3 million expansion project, including doubling the capacity of the passenger waiting area past the security checkpoint.

From her second-floor office, Palmeri had a skybox view this week of construction workers pouring foundations for the new waiting room despite the cold, rainy weather.

“This is progress,” she said.

Every effort had been made to accommodate travelers during the construction, but some inconvenience is unavoidable, as portions of the existing passenger area are removed, handicapped access ramps and curbs are built, and new water and sewer lines are installed in the parking lot.

“It’s apparent throughout the airport there’s some major project going on,” Palmeri said.

She hopes the new waiting room, with capacity for 300 travelers, up from the existing 150-seat facility, will help the airport attract additional flights. One possibility is a U.S. mainland-to-Hawaii route that Allegiant plans to begin offering in 2012.

“We’ll be ready whenever they start it and choose Stockton,” Palmeri said.

Otto Warmbier was arrested in January 2016 at the end of a brief tourist visit to North Korea. He had been medically evacuated and was being treated at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center when he died at age 22.